America’s toughest backcountry ski race starts at midnight in Crested Butte, Colorado, and charges 40 miles north through the rugged heart of the Rocky Mountains to Aspen. When two desk jockeys, coworkers at this magazine, sign up on competing teams, an epic game of one-upmanship unfolds.

Thanks to World Cup vet and Hahnenkamm champ Daron Rahlves, the world’s ballsiest brand of ski racing doesn’t take place on some obscure European piste, but in California. Welcome to the Rahlves Banzai Tour.